It's only halfway through, he's now going to do the Rocky Balboa storyline after a twenty-year timeskip.
Hajime no Ippo
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Well, if Morikawa actually sticks with it and has Ippo retire, I will give him credit for adhering to the fact that Ippo is fucking brain dead. However, I would have liked it IF he had shown the damn Dempsey Roll.
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Maybe a skip 2 years later with Ippo on the boat to help his mom and happy to see Sendo about to face Martinez or Miyata having become world champion.
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Eh, as we all know time skips are tricky tricky. Right now more than anything Takamura is the most important.
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Eh, as we all know time skips are tricky tricky. Right now more than anything Takamura is the most important.
Considering the whole end thing I would expect it means either a dramatic shift or it is a fluke or there's just an epilogue. If it's the first a timeskip is the simplest way to go especially with Boxers and the time it takes for bog stuff to happen same thing if there is an epilogue. If it's only a fluke I'm surprise it got all the way to the pages of the chapter.
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Ippo knowing he was "punch drunk" all along (or at least confirming it with this match) puts into perspective all those frustrating chapters where he focused–seemingly foolishly--on executing the New Dempsey Roll to the detriment of the rest of his boxing and the even match itself. It was all he felt he had left to give, to show the Coach his gratitude.
This result may be extremely frustrating, but. The signs were definitely there.
The foreshadowing, and certainly the Coach & Takamura's instincts.Supposedly Morikawa says Hajime no Ippo will continue, so we'll see where the tale progresses from here on out.
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Ippo knowing he was "punch drunk" all along (or at least confirming it with this match) puts into perspective all those frustrating chapters where he focused–seemingly foolishly--on executing the New Dempsey Roll to the detriment of the rest of his boxing and the even match itself. It was all he felt he had left to give, to show the Coach his gratitude.
I feel like it's more: "Always knew it, but didn't want to admit it."
But yeah, maybe Morikawa realized that Ippo as a character wasn't as popular as he used to be, or couldn't go any further, so he decided to retire him and make way for other characters like Takamura and/or Miyata.
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I wanted to read a good fight for that supposed ending and nothing was as satisfying as watching Imai punch the smugness out of Itagaki. So I went there It was pretty damn satisfying to see such a simple boxer as Imai meticulously destrooy everyone of Itagaki's weapon culminating in him defeated by a counter because he was to slow. It is short, sweet and there is none of the BS superpowers that have creeped their way in the fights recently.
1023-1028 six chapters of pure joy.Ippo being punch drunk was confirmed?
If it's really done my only regret would be not ending with Ippo sparring Miyata even if it's a personal thing at gym. In terms of aspirations that's what he ever wanted and the bittersweet could still be there for the reader knowing that his last time boxing for real and couldn't even get it in a real match. I can't say I was ever truly interested in Ippo facing someone else. If it continues either Ippo will be on the boat or a coach(which I don't think make much sense for him).
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
So I read the last batch on Mstream. I think 1200 and 1201 does a pretty good job of selling the bittersweet nature of what is happening and it doesn't really come out of nowhere. However 1202 crashes that momentum and just the feeling of an unfufilled story. The asshole counterpuncher that was Sendo's had a similar sudden ending but with the thing felt complete with his fight with Mashiba and getting the title.
For 1202 to work Ippo would have to at least land 1-2 punches of his new dempsey before suddenly missing and a shot of his old opponent realizing that he is definitely broken. Maybe even have the coach be the one to throw in the towel after the miss. As it is the chapter felt like a random moment and considering the last 2 chapters the author could have done better.
Anyway with that kind of batch of chapter the manga can only continue with a timeskip. But I think the best option would be one or 2 chapters to close everything off. With a last shot of Ippo in the hospital thinking how he will be able to helphis mom grom now on, or a last private sparring with Miyata as a favor. Some slightly bittersweet thing that let's you know that boxing is Ippo's past and from now on he will be moving on. The end.
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The author said on Twitter that the manga will continue. We'll have to see where it goes.
please tune in next time for the series to continue with a new name,hajime no takamura@desa:
For 1202 to work Ippo would have to at least land 1-2 punches of his new dempsey before suddenly missing and a shot of his old opponent realizing that he is definitely broken. Maybe even have the coach be the one to throw in the towel after the miss. As it is the chapter felt like a random moment and considering the last 2 chapters the author could have done better.
him starting the dempsey roll but then failing yo hit wouldn't have made any sense..the problem was that he can't judge distance anymore…once the first punches connect,the distance is correct and its arms keep giving him feedback, so he would have continue attacking and hitting the target stuck in the corner of the ring. Only way he could have been stopped was from a counter,but at this point it would have been the fault of the tecnique itself and not ippo, since the dempsey's entire idea is that when it starts rolling it's unstoppable, especially the "new" version.
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please tune in next time for the series to continue with a new name,hajime no takamura
I have my doubts it will just shift to a new protagonist.
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I honestly thought this would be like a lot of other action shounen,
where it's a looooong story but in the end the character overcomes everything and wins it all.So while I appreciate the "realism" of having Ippo finally start to break down and crumble,
I can't help but feel like all this time has been wasted, y'know?
As a reader who wanted the character to succeed.But I guess all he ever wanted was to understand what it means to be strong,
so I can kinda see why the author would choose a different route for him to find it.
Still feels so weird. -
I can see why a lot of people didnt like this ending but I loved. Imo the manga lost any sort of 'drive' and even fighting miyata was a vague goal that ippo wasnt really building towards. Ippo spent most of his time fighting random uninteresting characters whose entire interaction with ippo was just being rival boxers. The regional boxers worked a lot better because of how they interacted with the ippo world basically and felt more like real challenges. Every character development regressed (Aoki and Kimura) and takamura just continued being takamura. I think this ending gave closure of sorts to the manga in its present state and actually gave a point to the "does ippo have brain damage after getting hit in the face 200 times?" plotline. Much better than dawdling on with ippo half heartedly fighting opponents just to practise cool punches.
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Just read these chapters and all I can think was
….holy shit
I mean this batch not only confirms that Ippo himself knows he is punch drunk and is willing to retire, but he loses his final bout to a relative nobody.
My respect for this series soared after this. I mean, this goes completely against shounen convention.
Okay, maybe, MAYBE Ippo will have another comeback like Joe did in Ashita no Joe, but Joe never gave up boxing kept going
Ippo, on the other hand, has a life and a future outside of boxing. He's not like Joe whose whole being was the glove. Ippo will want to retire after this. Not only that, he already promised he would retire.
Now the big question is.....is this the end of the series? Ippo is the TITLE character and on the cover of every single volume. Can the author really continue with someone like Takamura, who is virtually invincible? What would be the point? We would already assume he would win and if not, it would not mean much because his dream was nigh impossible anyway.
If this is the end, then I cannot wait for an anime and an anime continuation is almost assured.
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Oh, he'll be back. Morikawa will either repeat Date's storyline by having Ippo come back after being married or have Kumi reject Ippo's proposal. It'll happen.
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@Mr.:
Can the author really continue with someone like Takamura, who is virtually invincible?
Takamura's is only invincible when he's fighting cans and as his last fight demonstrated he's starting to have problems even with them. As for shifting focus squarely to him unless Morikawa decides to make Takamura stop acting like a douche don't see that going over well.
@Yuugi's:
Oh, he'll be back. Morikawa will either repeat Date's storyline by having Ippo come back after being married or have Kumi reject Ippo's proposal. It'll happen.
Damn the latter would be a real gut punch that in reality would give Ippo suicidal tendencies.
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Ippo proposes because he thinks he's supposed to follow the script now, but Kumi can tell he's lost his luster for life behind his false smile. Kumi finally realizes that she thought Ippo was so cool for standing up against all his foes to find his answers for the questions of life and now that he's given up on it she just can't stand it. BAM, repeat of the Date storyline (which is admittedly a great storyline, so I don't mind it).
Chances are we'll get Takamura's next fight, where he slaughters this poor chump with a single punch, too.
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Takamura's is only invincible when he's fighting cans and as his last fight demonstrated he's starting to have problems even with them. As for shifting focus squarely to him unless Morikawa decides to make Takamura stop acting like a douche don't see that going over well.
I is much more believable that Takamura, Sendo, or Miyata will get their own spin-off. This way, Takamura's character can be tweaked a bit to not be a bit easier to get behind, like Ippo retiring makes him get his shit kinda together and a little less of an ass to justify it. A spin-off also gives a chance for a different author or editor to continue the mantle of the HnI saga to an end, because…..people do like the side characters too and their stories aren't over and too much time has been devoted to them otherwise to just grind their stories to a halt.
It would be very awkward to keep the Ippo title if there is a spin-off. There would have to be a name change to some extent.
At this point, Ippo's story should be an epilogue of sorts. I can envision, maybe, Ippo retires for a while then takes another crack at the world stage. But that would be a very poor development (would Kamagawa even allow it?). Ippo should be done at this point. He promised he would to Kumi and he told himself in the ring it was his last. And he lost the fight on top of it.
The only other development that could happen is a time skip and that the punk drunk effects were cured some how but....really?
@Yuugi's:
Chances are we'll get Takamura's next fight, where he slaughters this poor chump with a single punch, too.
Completely forgot about that. Yeah, doesn't seem like the time to drag out a Taka fight.
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There's actually pretty good chance that Takamura will lose. This will be his 25th match after all.
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! At least he didn't randomly die during the match like Joe Yabuki.
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@MDL:
So while I appreciate the "realism" of having Ippo finally start to break down and crumble,
I can't help but feel like all this time has been wasted, y'know?
As a reader who wanted the character to succeed.But I guess all he ever wanted was to understand what it means to be strong,
so I can kinda see why the author would choose a different route for him to find it.
Still feels so weird.That's true, his motivation was "the meaning of strength", never "be on top" or "be the strongest". With that being the case he never really was going to reach Martinez. He didn't care enough.
@Mr.:
Now the big question is…..is this the end of the series? Ippo is the TITLE character and on the cover of every single volume. Can the author really continue with someone like Takamura, who is virtually invincible? What would be the point? We would already assume he would win and if not, it would not mean much because his dream was nigh impossible anyway.
If this is the end, then I cannot wait for an anime and an anime continuation is almost assured.
Takamura is undoubtedly the strongest character in the series, but until now he's only been fighting guys below his weight class since heavyweights are nowhere in Japan. Once he gets to actual heavyweight class, he's going to start finding real challenges. Even though he's already had a couple.
@Yuugi's:
Oh, he'll be back. Morikawa will either repeat Date's storyline by having Ippo come back after being married or have Kumi reject Ippo's proposal. It'll happen.
Eh . . . . I could see that, but at the same time HE'S FUCKING PUNCH DRUNK. People with brain damage shouldn't continue whatever was giving them brain damage.
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I don't think Ippo is necessarily punch drunk, he's just using the thought of such a thing as an explanation for his inner chaos. He's been stuck in a rut of indecisiveness and psychological torment that has slowly accumulated over the past few years. Every win as the champion brought him closer to having the face the question of "what's next?" The Kojima fight was where things started manifesting for real and since then it's been a back-and-forth of "what about the future?" Frankly, I think it's all reflective of how Morikawa feels. He's been making this comic for nearly thirty years straight. Mentally, he has to be inhuman now. Just making one chapter takes an incalculable about of physical, mental and emotional toll on someone. Morikawa has done this for twelve hundred. His body's in bad health, but he continues to push on. He's probably thinking everyday about why it is he keeps torturing himself with this slow burn and I think he's now putting that question into his work, further and further.
Of course, Ippo could just be punch drunk, but I think that'd only happen if Morikawa was feeling self-destructive.
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@Yuugi's:
I don't think Ippo is necessarily punch drunk, he's just using the thought of such a thing as an explanation for his inner chaos. He's been stuck in a rut of indecisiveness and psychological torment that has slowly accumulated over the past few years. Every win as the champion brought him closer to having the face the question of "what's next?" The Kojima fight was where things started manifesting for real and since then it's been a back-and-forth of "what about the future?" Frankly, I think it's all reflective of how Morikawa feels. He's been making this comic for nearly thirty years straight. Mentally, he has to be inhuman now. Just making one chapter takes an incalculable about of physical, mental and emotional toll on someone. Morikawa has done this for twelve hundred. His body's in bad health, but he continues to push on. He's probably thinking everyday about why it is he keeps torturing himself with this slow burn and I think he's now putting that question into his work, further and further.
Of course, Ippo could just be punch drunk, but I think that'd only happen if Morikawa was feeling self-destructive.
he can't properly judge distances anymore,he has blackouts,he isn't as resilient as he once was.
if that's not being punch drunk,it's something that it's exactly like it -
Yeah, and I am not sure how much being scared could have enough weight to it. Not to mention that they already used closing his eyes with Aoki.
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The only reason the last few chapters went that direction is because the author was ending the manga. If he wasn't intending to end the manga he should have played out the fight differently.
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The only reason the last few chapters went that direction is because the author was ending the manga. If he wasn't intending to end the manga he should have played out the fight differently.
but apparently the manga is continuing… we don't know for how long yet though
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The only reason the last few chapters went that direction is because the author was ending the manga. If he wasn't intending to end the manga he should have played out the fight differently.
If that was the case it wouldn't make sense for him to immediatly state on Twitter that the manga is continuing, antecipating the question.
My theory is that this is all the setup for Ippo to really discover his motivation, his need to box, and wanting to box even if he is punch drunk, risking everything, even his life and health, and his love interest (due to breaking his promise of quitting). Hence becoming a true MONSTER and finally cross the line. And Ippo will thus return.
As for him being punch drunk, he might really be punch drunk or maybe not. So far there's no medical confirmation so whatever he is feeling might be something similar but not truly permanent and Ippo, due to his lack of motivation, is latching on that as an excuse in his heart of hearts.
Regardless, my theory is that he will return while actually being punch drunk or we will find out later that he isn't really punch drunk but something else.
Either that or he really retires and doesn't come back but in that case I don't understand the point of the author's Twitter message.
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I don't think it would make sense to continue the story with Ippo as a boxer. He was never interest in fame or titles just having good times and proving himself with a slice of fascination for Miyata. He is way to down to earth to not go help his mother after that.
him starting the dempsey roll but then failing yo hit wouldn't have made any sense..the problem was that he can't judge distance anymore…once the first punches connect,the distance is correct and its arms keep giving him feedback, so he would have continue attacking and hitting the target stuck in the corner of the ring. Only way he could have been stopped was from a counter,but at this point it would have been the fault of the tecnique itself and not ippo, since the dempsey's entire idea is that when it starts rolling it's unstoppable, especially the "new" version.
My point was he chapter felt like another random one rather than the dramatic ending. And I don't think it works well since the other were building the drama.
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If that was the case it wouldn't make sense for him to immediatly state on Twitter that the manga is continuing, antecipating the question.
My theory is that this is all the setup for Ippo to really discover his motivation, his need to box, and wanting to box even if he is punch drunk, risking everything, even his life and health, and his love interest (due to breaking his promise of quitting). Hence becoming a true MONSTER and finally cross the line. And Ippo will thus return.
As for him being punch drunk, he might really be punch drunk or maybe not. So far there's no medical confirmation so whatever he is feeling might be something similar but not truly permanent and Ippo, due to his lack of motivation, is latching on that as an excuse in his heart of hearts.
Regardless, my theory is that he will return while actually being punch drunk or we will find out later that he isn't really punch drunk but something else.
Either that or he really retires and doesn't come back but in that case I don't understand the point of the author's Twitter message.
Morikawa could have done that in these 100 chapters of comeback training we just had but i guess he plans to go for first manga to reach 2000 chapters :blink:
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Morikawa could have done that in these 100 chapters of comeback training we just had but i guess he plans to go for first manga to reach 2000 chapters :blink:
That's true, yeah, but we are already used to the pacing of this manga lol
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Spoilers from last chapter…
! Ippo retires from boxing
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! At this point, I don't even care anymore. I was really hoping for a strong comeback after following the manga for 2 years during Ippo's break, only to have this. It feels so bad, followed things manga for so many years. And yet, there's something bittersweet about it, it's a bold move for a manga to do it this way. Some respect, some disappointment, all in all not too happy.
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Spoilers from last chapter…
! Ippo retires from boxing
! https://images2.imgbox.com/a5/e1/WYHnmHqg_o.jpg! i'm glad
! if he really is broken (and everything points to him being broken) its a good move by the author to promote the concept that health comes first than glory -
Spoilers from last chapter…
! Ippo retires from boxing
! [qimg]https://images2.imgbox.com/a5/e1/WYHnmHqg_o.jpg[/qimg]! In before his personal life goes to shit because he can't help but want to fight but keeps holding himself back because he's trying to make Kumi happy.
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! Would be kind of strange given how Mashiba damn near killed Sawamura simply for grazing Kumi with her not batting an eyelash over it.
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@Yuugi's:
! In before his personal life goes to shit because he can't help but want to fight but keeps holding himself back because he's trying to make Kumi happy.
! but it's not kumi's happiness that it's at stake here..it's his future life and health
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Ummm so is this manga ending?
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Hard to say. I would actually hope not, since we NEED to see Takamura achieve his goal.
Spoilers from last chapter…
! Ippo retires from boxing
! https://images2.imgbox.com/a5/e1/WYHnmHqg_o.jpg! Well, not that surprised. He said he would, so he should.
! At this point, I don't even care anymore. I was really hoping for a strong comeback after following the manga for 2 years during Ippo's break, only to have this. It feels so bad, followed things manga for so many years. And yet, there's something bittersweet about it, it's a bold move for a manga to do it this way. Some respect, some disappointment, all in all not too happy.
! It is bold, even if it's annoying. But not all mangas have to end with the hero being #1.
! i'm glad
! if he really is broken (and everything points to him being broken) its a good move by the author to promote the concept that health comes first than glory! That is very important. Boxing is a rough sport, and shouldn't be encouraged if the hero is going to ruin himself. We can't all be Ashita no Joe.
! I feel more bad for Kamogawa than Ipoo. Ipoo never really wanted to be a world champion, that was Kamogawa's dream more than his. -
Maybe Miyata will return to the gym and become the new hope.
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Only regret I have with it is Ippo never getting a return match with Miyata. Aside from that I think leaving the rest of carreers and how far they managed to go up in the air works fine.
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I could see them having their final "match" in the gym. It's the only fight Ippo ever really cares about, it doesn't have to be for an actual belt. Just to see who's stronger.
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I could see them having their final "match" in the gym. It's the only fight Ippo ever really cares about, it doesn't have to be for an actual belt. Just to see who's stronger.
Wouldn't be satisfying though, at least not for Miyata, he wanted to face Ippo as a force to be reckoned with. If he is broken, it brings more sorrow than closure.
Frankly, I'm fine with Ippo retiring, like others have stated, not everybody can be Ashita no Joe, and frankly, Ippo just lacks the drive to put his all into it. Like Takamura always said, he was more focused on making coach happy and proving his efforts were not in vain, it wasn't really a personal drive and his obsession of always looking at himself like the "challenger" stacked on top of that. He can probably become a sort of sparring partner regular to still be in the show and help mentor others.
The question now is whats going to be the focus? Aoki and Kimura being treated as jokes for so long kind of kills giving them that torch, even if Aoki starts pushing for realsies I have a hard time believing that I could ever take it seriously and although I loved Kimura during the Mashiba arc, that was oh so long ago and his mometum his dead. Itagaki I frankly despise as the arrogant little asshole that he is, though he is the one who Ippo can mentor the most by far, assuming that Ippo is still a constant presence in the gym.
Takamura is the other likely main focus from now on, guy is funny and has charisma yet brings weight to the table due to his feeling of responsability towards Kamogawa and his own physical issues, but he has too much of "unstoppable force" syndrome, I just can't see him loosing, I can see him getting very hard fought wins for sure, but not the other way around. He's bigger than life and I have a hard time thinking he could carry the series by himself for a long period of time, that the guy is pretty much a walking buffon in his downtime doesn't help, doesn't seem to have a family and anything going for him outside of his training and maybe the physiotherapist.
Miyata could be the other main angle to go for, but it would just feel strange to follow him constantly since he has always felt like "the target to beat". Mashiba and Sendou I'd say are also discarded from the getgo.
God knows Hajime no Ippo has had a too long period where it just stopped in its tracks keeping the status quo, so I'm personally excited to see where it goes from here.
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HAJIME NO IPPO 1.208 RAW
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Press F to pay respects.
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Owwwww, that's a lot of medical talk that's hard to translate.
But basically:
! Kumi gives Ippo the info about a hospital/clinic that specializes in CTE research, and convinces Ippo to go there. Everything he and the doctor were talking about is where I got lost, but Ippo's brain isn't screwed. But he still decides to retire, since punch drunk boxers shouldn't mess with possibilities. At the end after saying goodbye to everyone Takamura asks him if he found his "treasure." I have no fucking idea what he means by that.
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Owwwww, that's a lot of medical talk that's hard to translate.
But basically:
! Kumi gives Ippo the info about a hospital/clinic that specializes in CTE research, and convinces Ippo to go there. Everything he and the doctor were talking about is where I got lost, but Ippo's brain isn't screwed. But he still decides to retire, since punch drunk boxers shouldn't mess with possibilities. At the end after saying goodbye to everyone Takamura asks him if he found his "treasure." I have no fucking idea what he means by that.
! Boxing was an adventure, if we're to go by the ending text of the previous chapter. On adventures you usually find treasure, right? Takamura is probably asking Ippo if he found what the meaning of strength is. After a timeskip I think we're going to find that Ippo hasn't found his treasure.
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That retirement better stick.
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So, after 1200+ chapters the moral of the story is "If you want to become a pro boxer stop blocking punches with your face"
Well, that could have been said sooner.
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Don't follow this series, but I find it amazing that they've pulled 1200 chapters out of a fucking BOXING manga.
How the hell do you not hit burnout?